


The Two Black Paladins

by SeveralSmallHedgehogs



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Kuron is Shiro (Voltron)'s Clone, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-02-14 11:18:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13006671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeveralSmallHedgehogs/pseuds/SeveralSmallHedgehogs
Summary: Uhh sort of a prediction of how they could possibly figure out that clone Shiro is a clone? Keith is confused and upset. Everyone is confused and upset. Lance is a good second and a genuinely Smart Boy. Might shift to a little klance and/or shallura later





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hhhhhahahahaaa I'm almost done with finals week and my internship site responded to me nearly three weeks late so I'm twisting myself into a pretzel trying to arrange transportation! Here's some fic I've been working on

          It was a simple, routine mission. Well, no missions were quite _routine,_ but nothing surprising was going to happen on this one. It was just an observation mission in a Galra prison; in and out. Keith had gotten better about not causing trouble after Kolivan chewed him out about it. And… after what happened to Regris.

          Crouching on a pipe in the ceiling and watching two sentries pass through the corridor under him, Keith suppressed a sigh. He wished he could start making the right decisions. Going back for Regris had been in vain. Leaving Voltron had been one of the worst decisions of his life. Sometimes… sometimes he regretted ever leaving Earth.

          The sentries had passed. Keith dropped to the floor and headed along the hall towards the extraction point. He had a few minutes to get there before Kolivan left without him.

          “Keith?”

          He couldn’t help it-- at the sound of that familiar voice, Keith froze.

          “Keith!” came the voice again, a quiet call, from one of the cells a little ways ahead. “Is that you?”

          Keith trotted along the corridor, craning his neck to see into the cell. When he got a good look at the face in the window, his heart climbed into his throat. _What? I haven’t heard anything about him being missing—why is he here?_

          The face in the window was Shiro’s. His hair was the same as it had been before they first recovered him- buzzed on the sides, short on the top, with his white hair brushing his forehead. Weird. Maybe he hadn’t been able to keep it pushed back out of his face anymore.

          When Shiro spotted Keith, though, his shoulders drooped. “Oh,” he said, lowering his voice. “Sorry. Your footsteps sounded like someone I know.” He glanced down the corridor, and then addressed Keith again. “You have about five minutes before the next patrol comes through. Is there anything I can do to help?”

          Keith just stared at him for a second before he remembered he was wearing his Blade of Marmora uniform. His mask concealed his face. “It’s me,” Keith whispered, stepping closer and deactivating his mask.

          Shiro visibly startled. “ _Keith?_ You joined the Blade of Marmora? When?”

          “A while ago,” Keith replied, frowning.

          “Then who- who’s flying the black lion?”

          Keith just studied him for a moment. Had Shiro suffered some kind of memory loss? That was the only explanation he could think of. Keith glanced down the corridor and stepped closer, moving his gaze to the lock.

          “No,” Shiro said, as if he could read Keith’s mind. He’d always had that effect. “I’m- I’m okay. If you’re with the Blade of Marmora, then you should go. Just—tell the other Paladins where I am. They can make a decision about what to do, along with the Princess and Coran.”

          “I’m not leaving you here,” Keith muttered. “They just got you back. They can’t go through having to find you again.”

          “Just got me back?” Shiro repeated, confused, but Keith was already working out some math in his head.

          “I’ll radio Kolivan,” he said. “I’ll tell him we’ll have another passenger. Once that alarm goes off, we’ll head straight for the extraction point.”

          “Keith, you can’t just—”

          “I’m not leaving you,” Keith told him, more forcefully. Shiro blinked. Before he could say anything else, Keith was already contacting Kolivan. “I’m bringing someone with me.”

          Kolivan’s response was firm, with just an edge underlying anger: “We don’t have time for you to play rescuer, Keith.”

          “It’s Shiro,” Keith replied.

          The Marmora leader was silent for a moment. “I hadn’t heard he was missing again.”

          “Me either,” Keith replied. “He seems like he’s got some memory problems- he doesn’t remember when we found him after Zarkon went down. I’m bringing him with me.”

          Kolivan replied, “If he becomes cumbersome, you are to leave him behind.”

          Keith cut the connection without answering him. “Come on,” he told Shiro, putting a hand to the panel beside the cell. _Thank god for Galra fingerprints._ “We’re leaving.”

          Immediately, the alarm sounded. But the door didn’t move. Keith swore, activated his dagger, and jammed it into the space between the door and the wall. “Keith!” Shiro said. “Just go! I’ll be alright!”

          “ _No!_ ” Keith shouted back. He threw his weight on the dagger and pried the door open a couple inches. “Help me out, Shiro!”

          Shiro grabbed the door, and together, they pulled it open enough for him to get through. He was wearing the same Galra prisoner’s uniform he’d been wearing when Keith first saved him back on Earth. Before Lance and Pidge and Hunk showed up and nearly got them all caught…

          “This way!” Keith headed down the corridor and was relieved to hear Shiro’s footfalls on his heels.

          A squad of sentries emerged from a hallway to cut them off. Keith and Shiro plowed through them, knife and Galra prosthetic fighting together, and left them in pieces. Keith felt fine, but he could hear that Shiro was struggling behind him. What had they _done_ to him here? He couldn’t be this out of shape, if he’d only just been taken recently.

          “Here!” They’d finally reached the opening in the ceiling. Keith leaped up, grabbed the beams, and swung himself up into the ceiling. “Grab on!” He reached down for Shiro.

          Shiro gritted his teeth, and then jumped up and caught Keith’s hand. Keith grunted in pain at the weight on his shoulder, but he managed to pull Shiro up after him. Not a moment too soon, either—another squad whipped around a corner just as Shiro’s feet disappeared into the ceiling. Keith heard them radioing for support down below.

          Keith motioned for Shiro to follow him, and together they made their way to the spot he’d stashed a stolen Glara cruiser. He helped Shiro sit down behind the seat- he was wheezing so badly Keith feared he might throw up- and then settled into the pilot’s chair. “Headed your way,” Keith told Kolivan, and then flew from the bay.

          He’d gotten good at imitating the way Galra pilots flew; nobody bothered him at the checkpoints. Shiro’s breathing slowed to normal behind him, and after a moment or two, Shiro asked, “How long was I gone?”

          “I don’t know,” Keith kept his eyes straight ahead. “The others hadn’t even told me you were gone.” He tightened his grip on the controls.

          “What happened? Did you guys have a falling-out?”

          “…Sort of,” Keith replied, not wanting to remind Shiro of what a failure he’d been as a leader. “But… my leaving was… it was probably for the better. I put everyone in danger.”

          “We’re always in danger,” Shiro pointed out reassuringly. “Who’s leading now? Allura?”

          Keith glanced over his shoulder. “I… don’t know. The first time you disappeared, everything was pretty bad for a while.”

          “Yeah, leading takes some getting used to.” Shiro chuckled, and then fell silent for a second. “I’m sorry I put so much pressure on you. I should’ve been there to help.”

          “It was rough at first,” Keith replied. “But Lance and the others straightened me out. Then…” He trailed off. “You really don’t remember coming back?”

          “I’ve been in prison since the Galra first picked me up after our fight with Zarkon,” Shiro replied.

          Keith didn’t respond. They’d reached Kolivan’s ship. He helped Shiro switch ships, and then scuttled the Galra cruiser. When he got back to Kolivan’s ship, he found the Blade of Marmora leader questioning Shiro.

          “I don’t remember that,” Shiro replied to a question Kolivan had asked.  He sounded tired.

          “You don’t remember a lot,” Kolivan replied coldly. He turned to Keith. “I’ll take him back to the Paladins of Voltron and explain what happened. You head back to base.”

          Keith hesitated. “I can take him,” he said.

          Kolivan’s eyes narrowed. “You aren’t a Paladin anymore,” he replied. “You are a soldier. You have no reason to contact them.”

          Keith’s fists clenched, and he looked away.

          “Stop it.” Shiro stepped forward, half putting himself between Keith and Kolivan. “I’d rather Keith took me, too. I want some updates on what’s going on.”

          Kolivan scowled. “I can—”

          “No,” Shiro interrupted. “I’ll go with Keith. It’s been a while. I want to catch up.”

          Kolivan and Shiro just stood for a moment, two mountainlike men staring each other down. Kolivan was a good two feet taller than Shiro, but Shiro didn’t seem to care.

          Finally, Kolivan closed his eyes and sighed. “All right,” he relented. “But, Keith, I will not come to help you if anything happens during transport.”

          They returned to a Marmora base, and Keith took a ship from the bay. Shiro took the copilot’s seat before Keith could say anything. “I’ve never flown one of these before,” Shiro explained. “You have. And I don’t think I have the energy to focus on flying and talking at the same time, anyway.”

          Although Shiro had said he wanted updates, the ride was fairly silent. Shiro asked a few questions, but Keith answered them in as few syllables as possible. After a while, Shiro stopped asking.

          It was only an hour or two before the Castle of Black Lions came into sight. Keith opened a hailing frequency, but the cruiser was so small he could only do sound. “It’s me,” he said. “Keith.”

          “Keith?” Allura sounded puzzled. “We don’t have any meetings arranged with Kolivan. Why are you here alone?”

          “I’m not,” Keith replied, glancing at Shiro. He’d visibly relaxed when he heard Allura’s voice. “I’ve got someone I think you’ll all be glad to see.”

          “Who is it?” came Hunk’s voice. “Is it Shay?”

          “No,” Keith replied, sort of wishing he _did_ have Shay with him, as well. It would be great to see Hunk smile again. He missed Hunk. He missed everybody. “You can probably figure it out before you guys see him.”

          They docked near the Black Lion. As they passed the hangar, Shiro glanced longingly at the closed doors. But he kept walking with Keith toward the bridge. When the reached the doors, Keith paused, took a deep breath, and then stepped forward. The bridge doors slid open, and he and Shiro stepped inside. The first person he saw was Allura. She stood in the middle of the room, facing him, wearing her pink Paladin armor. Next he noticed Lance, standing close behind her. Hunk was off to one side, Pidge on the other. Behind them, at the control panel, was Coran. And standing next to Coran was… was…

          Keith’s mind stuttered to a halt, and the whole bridge was quiet as the two Shiros stared across the room at each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time for my Kuron conspiracy theories
> 
> Sorry for the changing format, I'm too tired to fix it right now

          Keith looked back and forth between the two nearly-identical men in the bridge. They had the same face, same scar, same prosthetic arm. The only differences were their hair, and their clothes; the Shiro on the other end of the room wore his Paladin armor.

          Lance was the first to speak. “Shiro?” he asked, stepping forward. Then he looked back at the Shiro standing near Coran in stunned silence.

          Then the armored Shiro stepped forward, too. “Keith,” he said sharply. “What’s going on? Who is this?”

          Keith was still looking frantically between him and the Shiro standing next to him. “I—I don’t—I thought—”

          The Shiro across the room interrupted him. “Did you bring some Galra experiment with you?” he demanded, his voice rising. “What were you _thinking?_ ”

          Panic rose in Keith’s chest. “No, I wasn’t—I thought he—” He couldn’t seem to grasp onto one thought for long enough to finish a sentence.

          “Hang on.” The Shiro nearest to him moved forward and put a calm hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Let’s not start yelling just yet. I think…” He looked at the other Shiro and frowned. “I think we need to sit down and talk. I’m as confused as the rest of you.”  
          “No,” the other Shiro said firmly. “Hunk. Lance. We have cuffs—put some on him. Whatever he is, I don’t want him running free in the castle.” Hunk and Lance looked at each other, but neither of them moved to obey. The Shiro in the armor frowned.

          “Just a moment,” Allura said. “I don’t see any reason to suspect this… this other Shiro.” She glanced uncertainly at the Shiro near Keith. He simply looked back at her, his expression tight with some emotion Keith couldn’t quite place. “Let’s hear what he has to say.”

          They went to the common room, but when they stepped inside, none of them moved to sit down. After a second, Lance walked to the couch, sat, and looked expectantly at the rest of them.

          The Shiro in the Galra clothes smiled and sat down next to him. The rest of them joined them. The Shiro in the armor pointedly sat across from the one next to Lance, and crossed his arms. Keith was starting to feel irritated with him, which was something he wasn’t used to feeling towards Shiro. Okay, so there was a clone here now, but why was he so mad about it? That didn’t seem like the Shiro he knew. The real Shiro would be a lot calmer about whatever was going on.

          With that thought, Keith found his eyes drawn to the Shiro who was sitting next to Lance. He was leaning forward, looking around at everybody’s faces, but he seemed only wary, not irritated.

          “So,” he said. “It sounds like I’ve missed some things. What’s happened since I was captured by Zarkon?”

          “Which time?” Pidge piped up.

          Shiro looked at her for a second, and then replied slowly, “When we killed Zarkon. I activated the Black Bayard, and we used it to kill him.” He hesitated, and his hands curled into fists. “The next thing I knew, I was in the Galra prison. I’ve been there ever since.”

          There was a pause in the room. Everyone seemed to be looking at the Shiro in the armor. When he noticed, he sighed and uncrossed his arms. “I remember the same thing,” he said. “Defeating Zarkon, and waking up with the Galra. But I escaped. I was captured by some rebel forces for a little bit, but they helped me get my hands on a Galra cruiser.” His voice grew quiet. “But I was almost dead when Keith found me.”

          The room was silent for a while. “So,” the unarmored Shiro said, “You escaped sometime after I was captured.”

          The other Shiro’s expression hardened. “I escaped sometime after _I_ was captured,” he said. “And I think…” He was silent for a moment, studying the other Shiro. “I think I saw you. I thought I was hallucinating, but… they had you on a table. Your eyes were open, but I don’t… I don’t think you were awake.”

          The unarmored Shiro was silent for a moment. “I don’t understand. Why would they make another me?”

          Abruptly, the armored Shiro winced and put a hand to his head. Hunk, who was sitting closest to him, inhaled sharply. “You okay?” he asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

          “Yeah,” the armored Shiro said slowly. “My head’s starting to hurt, all of a sudden. I’m…” He trailed off and squeezed his eyes shut. After a moment, he opened his eyes again and let his hand drop. “I need some time to figure this out.” He got to his feet and, without another word, walked out of the room.

          The others watched him, but said nothing. Then they looked back at the remaining Black Paladin.

          Shiro sighed. “I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “The Blade of Marmora has sources in the Galra empire—I’ll bet we can get some information about what’s going on.”

          “But until then,” Allura said, “Let’s get you settled. Since… your old room is taken, we can put you in a different one.”

          There was confusion after that; getting the new Shiro a room, and clothes. Keith noticed that he put on the same clothes he’d worn since Earth. The more he found out about this new Shiro, the more he seemed like the old one.

          The other Shiro, on the other hand, kept his distance. He seemed unconditionally suspicious of the newcomer. That seemed strange. But maybe he’d changed in the time Keith had been gone.

 

          A while later, everything died down and people were less on alert. Keith decided to slip out when nobody was looking. He didn’t belong here, not anymore, and Kolivan was expecting him back. Maybe if he could give a decent report, Kolivan wouldn’t be too angry at him. The Paladins could figure out what to do about the new Shiro. He wasn’t part of this team.

          He pulled his hood up and was almost to the hangar where he’d left his cruiser when a voice behind him said, “You’re leaving already?”

          Keith froze. He’d feared he wouldn’t be able to get out without being caught. And he figured that if anyone caught him, it would be the blue paladin. He half turned, looking just past the edge of his hood. Keith didn’t think he’d be able to handle looking him directly in the eye. “Yes, Lance,” he said.

          “Without saying goodbye?” Lance asked. His tone was equivocal; he didn’t sound particularly upset. Keith couldn’t really place the emotion on his voice. It sounded… flat, somehow.

          “I already said goodbye,” Keith said. “Remember? When I left. I figured that goes for anytime I have to leave.”

          “It really doesn’t.” Lance was silent for a moment. Then he turned and waved for Keith to follow him. “Come on.”

          “Where are we going?”

          “My room,” Lance said. “I need to talk to you.”

 

          Lance’s room looked a lot neater than Keith had expected. There were clothes flung over a chair, and the bed was messy, but the rest of the place was spotless. Lances clothes were neatly arranged in the open closet. Lance stepped inside and turned back to Keith, his expression open and waiting. Keith recalled how he’d broken the ice by sitting down after Keith brought the second Shiro to the castle.

          Keith sighed. “I thought you guys would be able to figure out what’s going on,” he said. “I’m not part of Voltron anymore. You don’t need me to stick around.”

          “Well…” Lance hesitated. “I mean, just because you’re not flying a lion anymore, it doesn’t mean you’re any less part of the team. Your armor’s still in the bay, and everything. It’s not like you’ve cut us off for good.”

          “But you don’t need me,” Keith replied. He couldn’t seem to look Lance in the eye. “Allura’s flying Blue, you’ve got Red, and the Black lion will… will figure out what’s going on with the two Shiros. Five Paladins. Six, if you need them. You’re all set.”

          There was another pause. Keith looked up and realized Lance was carefully scrutinizing him. He looked away again.

          “You know,” Lance said at length, “Red misses you.”  
          Keith looked up. “What?”

          “I can tell.” Lance crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “Maybe it’s some of that Blue Paladin empathy showing through, or something, but sometimes I feel like she wishes you were piloting her, instead of me.” He gave short laugh. “I’ve even caught her missing Alfor once or twice. It’s… weird. I’ve never met the guy, but considering how she thinks of him, he must’ve been pretty cool. Red seems to get the luck of the draw when it comes to Paladins. Always gets the ones who are smart _and_ handsome.” He playfully struck a pose with one hand on his hip and the other behind his head, apparently missing the unintended compliment to Keith.

          It was harder now more than ever to look Lance in the eye. “I thought you needed to talk to me,” Keith told him, wrestling internally with his irritation at being delayed, and a desperate ache to stay as long as possible. “Why did you bring me all the way back here if you’re just going to mess around?”  
          Lance dropped the pose, and a beat later, he said, “I brought you all the way back here because I trust you, and I think something’s not right.”  
          “Of course something’s not right, Lance! They _cloned Shiro._ ”

          “No, I mean…” Lance hesitated. “I think… _agh,_ I’m really bad at wording things.” He crossed his arms uncomfortably. “I think the real Shiro is the one you brought back. Not the one we’ve had with us.”  
          It took Keith a moment to process this. “What?”

          “I mean, you have to admit he’s been acting weird. The one we’ve had with us, I mean.” He glanced anxiously at the door as if worried someone might be listening. “He doesn’t… you know, _act_ like Shiro. And I figured—”

          “What do you mean, he doesn’t _act_ like Shiro?”

          “He acts weird,” Lance said. “He’s more serious, and he gets angry _way_ too easy.”

          Keith shrugged. “Who knows what the Galra put him through? Of course he’d be acting a little different.”

          Lance made a noise of frustration and ran a hand through his hair. “No, this is—ugh! Remember when he contradicted you back at that Galra base?”

          “Of course he did,” Keith replied, although he didn’t remember at all. “He was right. I was making a stupid decision.” Shiro always knew better.

           “He’s the one who put you in charge!” Lance exclaimed in exasperation. “And then he starts trying to take back over the _minute_ he gets back? That doesn’t sound like the Shiro I know! He yanked command right out from under you!”

          Keith was silent for a moment. Now that he was getting more details, he did remember this happening. He remembered the bitterness of having the team go with Shiro’s orders over his—not once, but twice. Lance had a point, but… “He was keeping me from making a stupid mistake.”

          “He started contradicting _himself,_ ” Lance added. “First he told us to go after the comet, and then he started yelling at us to get Lotor. Remember? It was messing all of us up. Even you. And he wouldn’t listen to you at _all._ ”

          He had a point. Shiro had used to listen. But after he escaped the Galra for the second time, he seemed like he’d closed off and started to ignore what Keith said.

          “He was doing what was best,” Keith mumbled.

          Lance wasn’t done. “Shiro never used to scold us,” he said, and that statement hit Keith like a hammer to the chest. “Not when things were serious. He never got mad, or even frustrated. At any of us. Remember? Not until he got back after Zarkon captured him again.”  
          Keith had nothing to say. He was looking at Lance now, feeling as if he’d had his ribcage torn open. Everything Lance had been saying made sense, but he still, for some reason, didn’t want to believe it.

          There was a pause. Lance closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his expression was tight. “Keith, he pushed you into leaving.”

          Keith startled. His hands curled into fists. “I _left_ because Voltron needed a leader,” he snarled, “and that leader wasn’t me! And _he_ was the only one who _wasn’t_ taking digs at me, _remember?_ ”

          Lance winced, and Keith immediately felt bad. But he’d just been telling the truth. Let Lance deal with his own guilt.

          There was a long silence before Lance spoke again. “I know,” he murmured. “And I’m sorry. We were all freaking out. You most of all. And we kept putting pressure on you. But, Keith, Shiro was doing it too. And you _know_ that’s not something Shiro would do.”

          Lance was right again. Shiro had kept talking to Keith about how Voltron needed a strong leader, and that the leader should be Keith. And then he turned around and gave Keith the harshest scoldings he’d gotten since the Garrison. Keith remembered feeling those two arguments pressing in on him like a vise. _You need to be here and lead_ but also _if you can’t be here, then stop leading._ That last one was never said, but always heard. He always heard it. That he wasn’t strong enough to lead Voltron. That he should just leave it to someone else. Shiro had kept pushing him until he split from the rest of his team.

          Keith remembered how Allura had come to talk to him after the mission where they lost Regris. She’d urged him to leave the Blade of Marmora and come back to Voltron. Shiro had not. And Keith thought at the time that Shiro was just trying to respect his wishes.

          He remembered the time he was absent when the team needed him to escort the transport to Olkarion. He’d been gone, and they’d almost been killed, and when he got back… he’d walked into a room containing a team that was no longer his. It had been clear from the looks on everyone’s faces. Even Shiro’s. He could’ve handled those glares from nearly anyone else, but not from Shiro.

          “Shiro almost got us killed,” Lance said abruptly.

          That snapped Keith out of his thoughts. “What?”

          “On Naxzela. The towers went up, and we had a chance to leave before the shield formed. I said we should get out—started to have Pidge plan an escape, and everything.” One corner of Lance’s mouth quirked. “I guess I was still thinking of myself as the right-hand man. You know, helping you make good decisions.”

          His smile quickly disappeared. “But Shiro negated me. He made us stay until it was too late to escape. If we’d left when I said we should, we wouldn’t have been slowed down by that force field. Even Kolivan and Coran missed what was happening. We would’ve died if you hadn’t realized something was wrong. A _lot_ of people would have died. All because Shiro made us stay on the ground for ten goddamn seconds.”

          Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. Finally Keith managed to ask, “Why are you telling me all of this?”

          “Because I _know_ that you brought back the real Shiro. And I think…” Lance eyed the door again. “I think the Shiro we found is the clone the Galra created to mess up the team.”

          Keith scowled. “What are you talking about?”

          “He separated you from us,” Lance said. “He started challenging your authority as the leader. Then he started challenging _my_ authority as a member of the team. And _that_ almost killed us. Just think about it,” Lance said. “Isn’t that a strategy? Divide and conquer? All of us except you would have died.”

          Keith swallowed hard, remembering his aborted attempt to break the shield on the Galra ship that held Haggar. If it had worked, the rest of Voltron would have all been saved. If it hadn’t… “Yeah,” he said at last. “I guess. But—” He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “Why are you telling _me_ this? Why not Allura, or Coran, or Pidge or Hunk or—or the _real_ Shiro?”

          “Allura’s warming up to me, but I still think she’d brush me off,” Lance said. “Same with Coran. Pidge would brush me off. Hunk wouldn’t be convinced enough to do anything about it. And Shiro’s too good-natured to think like this.” He paused, and then shrugged. “I guess I’m telling you because you’re the only one I thought might take me seriously. I mean…” He smirked. “I _was_ your second. I always gave good advice then, didn’t I?’

          He had. Lance had been a good tempering to Keith’s style of leadership. He’d gotten frustrated, but he’d never given up on him.

          “All right,” Keith said. “So… what do you think I should do?”

          “I dunno, man. You’re the Special Ops guy. What do _you_ think we should do?”

          Keith studied him for a second. He hadn’t missed Lance’s phrasing—he’d said “we,” not “you.” It was a subtle insistence that they were in this together.

          “Well,” Keith said, “I guess we start looking for solid evidence.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been listening to Iron & Wine for the last hour or so. It's calming to the point of making me sleepy. There may be spelling/grammatical errors as a result. 
> 
> (10/10 would recommend)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why does everything I write turn to angst

          Keith stuck around the castle after his talk with Lance, hoping they could be quick about convincing the others about Shiro. And the other Shiro.

          But first he called Kolivan to catch him up on the situation. Kolivan said he hadn’t heard anything about a cloning program, but he agreed to start spreading word to the Blades. “Return to the base as soon as possible,” Kolivan added just before signing off.

          “Yes, sir,” Keith said bleakly. Then Kolivan cut the comm.

          When Pidge called Matt with the new information, Matt decided to fly in. Within a couple of hours, he’d arrived at the Castle of Lions. Both Shiros seemed happy to see him, although the cloned Shiro was still hostile towards the original. Everything that Shiro did made Keith wonder why he hadn’t noticed something was wrong earlier. Maybe he’d been too busy beating himself up to realize that Shiro was joining in.

          Matt had just finished talking to one of the Shiros when he first laid eyes on Keith. And for some reason, his expression tightened. Glancing around to make sure nobody else was watching, Matt headed for Keith. The look on his face was too similar to the one Shiro got when he was about to have a tough conversation, and whatever Matt was going to say, Keith was in no mood to hear it.

          So, Keith quietly slipped out of the room. Matt followed him into the hallway, but Keith knew the castle better than he did; he managed to lose him in about ten seconds.

          Aside from everything else, though, Keith had to admit it was nice to be back in the castle. Hunk made dinner, and Keith ate with everyone else, trying to ignore how self-conscious he felt sitting around in his Blade of Marmora uniform. Matt seemed perfectly at home in his rebel colors, so why shouldn’t Keith feel the same? Then again, Matt’s rebel colors didn’t remind him of how he’d been a part of this team and then let them down and then left them to keep from doing even more damage…

          Hunk must have noticed Keith’s discomfort, because at some point during the meal he nudged Keith with his elbow and muttered, “Your clothes are still packed away in your room. And if you’d rather wear your Voltron armor, we’ve been keeping it clean.”

          Hearing this, Lance leaned around him. “We have?”

          “I mean, I have,” Hunk replied.

          Keith blinked a couple of times and swallowed hard before he could manage a response. “Thanks,” he said, his eyes on his plate, “but I… I should stay in my uniform. In case I have to leave on short notice.” He couldn’t just change back into his old clothes like everything was okay. Because it wasn’t okay. He wasn’t part of Voltron anymore. He didn’t want to act like he was.

          “Which reminds me,” Pidge said, completely oblivious Keith’s thoughts. “What are you still doing here? Not that we’re not glad to have you here, it’s just…” She paused, watching him expectantly.

          Keith hesitated. He hadn’t thought up an excuse for sticking around the castle. “I’m… worried about Shiro,” he said, glancing down the table again. “I want to make sure he’s okay, and stuff.”

          He knew he wasn’t very good at lying, but the others seemed to believe him. They went back to their meal. When he looked up again, he found Lance giving him a half smile. And then he realized that, behind him, Shiro—the real Shiro—was watching him, looking concerned. He looked back down again. Shit. Shiro could always tell when he was lying.

          As soon as they finished their food, Keith went back to his old room and flopped down on his bed. God, he missed this place, even if it _was_ weirdly clean and white. He still sort of missed his little house in the desert. The place hadn’t been half bad, once he got used to the scorpions that would invariably find their way into the kitchen cabinets. Nice and quiet.

          As if on cue, he heard a knock on his door. He debated whether to answer it for a second. He hadn’t been able to tell whether it was Shiro or Lance, and he didn’t want to deal with Shiro going all Concerned Authority Figure on him.

          “Keith.”

          That wasn’t Lance’s voice _or_ Shiro’s. It was… Matt’s? How did Matt even know where his room was.

          Before Keith could reply—or come up with an escape route—the door opened, and Matt stepped through. His expression was serious, and he shut the door behind himself.

          “I’ve been waiting for a chance to talk to you ever since Naxzela,” Matt said. He hesitated, and crossed his arms uncomfortably. “I’m… probably not the one to talk to you about this, but I figured you wouldn’t want me to tell anyone else about what happened.”

          “What do you mean?” Keith asked.

          Matt met his eyes. “I mean, someone needs to talk to you about when you tried to ram the shield on Haggar's ship with your cruiser.”

          “ _What?_ ” came a yelp from outside.

          Keith jumped, and Matt whirled around and slapped a hand against the panel next to the door. It whirred open to reveal Lance standing outside, looking horrified. There was a pause, everyone staring at one another in shock.

          Then Keith rounded on Matt. “What the hell is this?” he snapped. “Some kind of setup?”

          “I didn’t know he was there!” Matt protested.

          Lance’s eyes were wide. “I was—I was coming to talk to you and—you tried to hit a _shield_ with your _ship?_ ” His voice rose nearly an octave at the end, echoing down the hall. Keith inhaled sharply and dragged Lance into the room, shutting the door behind him.

          When he turned around, Lance was still gaping. “It was a while ago, while you were on Naxzela.”

          “And you never _told_ us this?” Lance looked between Keith and Matt.

          “I knew what reaction I’d get,” Keith retorted, crossing his arms. “And it was the only thing I could do.”

          Lance jolted. “ _What?_ ”

          “Keep your voice down!” Keith hissed, glancing at the door. “I was just—you guys were about to get killed, okay? And we couldn’t get through the shield with our guns, so I thought—”

          “You thought what? You thought you’d kill yourself, too? Even if it worked, you’d be gone! And if it didn’t, then—we’d _all_ be dead! There would be nobody left to pilot _any_ of the lions!”

          “I don’t pilot a lion anymore!” Keith snapped. “You got Red, and Shiro’s in the Black Lion! Also, in case you didn’t hear me, I was trying to save all of you! Protecting the universe is more important than just one person!”

          “Oh, don’t give me that!” For the first time Keith could remember, Lance looked _angry._ Not just nettled by snide comments or irritated at someone acting stupid. Angry. Furious. “The mission _isn’t_ more important than the individual, Keith! I swear, it’s like the Blade of Marmora’s been brainwashing you to think you don’t matter!”

          “That didn’t start with the Blades!” Keith snarled back without thinking. Immediately he realized what he’d said, and he shut up, feeling heat rise to his face. Lance’s eyes had gone wide again, and when Keith glanced away, he saw Matt, too, staring at him.

          Keith looked down. “I’m not part of this team anymore,” he said quietly, so his voice wouldn’t break. “It was a mistake for me to stay here as long as I did.” And he turned to go.

          “Keith, wait!” Lance grabbed his arm, but Keith turned and twisted his forearm around, forcing Lance to let go or have his wrist broken. Instinct nearly made him shove Lance backwards as well, but he managed to catch himself. This wasn’t a fight. Lance wasn’t an enemy.

           For a moment, Keith and Lance just looked at each other with a mix of too many emotions to read.

          It was Keith who looked away first. “Let me know if you find anything out,” he muttered, opening the door and heading away down the hall. He heard Lance dart into the hall behind him, but thank God, he didn’t try to follow and he didn’t tell Keith to wait again. If he had, Keith might have stopped and gone back. He wanted Lance to tell him to come back.

          But he didn’t, and so Keith kept walking, trying to ignore the eyes burning into his back and the ghost of Lance’s grip on his arm.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah that's it. I'm unable to finish this one.
> 
> check me out on [tumblr!](http://severalsmallhedgehogs.tumblr.com/)


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